Life in the Shadows
by Original Wr1ter
Summary: Life isn't always fun and games. In fifteen year-old's Cinderheart's, Lionblaze's, and Hollyleaf's case, it's NEVER fun and games. But why? What kind of secrets are they hiding? What REALLY goes on in their homes when they leave school? Why is Cinderheart always so angry? Why is Lionblaze always depressed? And why is Hollyleaf so skittish?
1. Prologue l

_**The Monroe family**_

**Mother: Sandy Monroe (Sorreltail)**

**Father: Tom Monroe**

**Daughter: Cindy Monroe (Cinderheart)**

_**The Karison family**_

**Mother: Sally Karison (Squirrelflight)**

**Father: Arnold Karison (Ashfur)**

**Children: Holly Karison (Hollyleaf)**

**Blake Karison (Lionblaze)**

**Prologue**

Six year old Cindy Monroe had so far spent her whole life not caring for a single person but her mother, Sandy. She was a tough little girl, and had a fierce connection to her mother. She wanted to protect Sandy, the way a dog would want to protect its owner. But why? Well, you'll find out soon…

"Mommy!" Cindy called. Sandy sat beside her daughter on the floor.

"I told you not to call me that," Sandy said gently, tucking a strand of hair behind Cindy's ear.

"Sorry, Sandy," Cindy apologized.

Sandy picked her daughter up and spun her around. Cindy giggled.

"Let's go for a walk," Sandy said, putting Cindy down and taking hold of her hand. Together they walked outside. The sun was setting. It could've been a peaceful scene. It _should've_ been a peaceful scene. But alas, they lived in a rough neighborhood. You could already hear the whimpers of abused dogs and delinquent teens getting yelled at from across the street. Sandy wished she didn't live here. She wished had never gotten married to her horrible husband. She wished… She looked down at her daughter who was clutching her hand with small fingers. Sandy had made many mistakes, but if she hadn't made them, she wouldn't have Cindy.

"Sandy," her daughter said, looking up. "Why're you crying?" Sandy hurriedly wiped her face.

"I'm crying," she started, smiling down at her daughter, "because the sun's so pretty." Cindy was quiet.

"Sandy," she said again. "Is it like this in everyone's house? Are all the mommies and daddies and doggies the same? Do they all get hurt?" Hot tears started rolling down Sandy's face, but when she spoke, her voice was calm.

"No," she started. "Not all of them. In some houses, the daddies are nice and the doggies are happy."

"When I'm seventeen and old enough to be a mommy, I'm going to be nice to my family and doggy."

"No," Sandy said, her voice cracking. "Mommies aren't supposed to be like me and have babies when they're seventeen. I made a mistake," she said, smoothing her daughter's hair.

"Did you make a mistake marrying daddy?" Cindy asked. Sandy looked down into her daughter's big, innocent eyes and broke down. She didn't hold back her cries this time. She hugged her knees against her chest as the sobs racked her body. Cindy started to cry too. Whenever her mother was happy, she was happy. When she was sad, Cindy was sad too.

"Here," Sandy said when she had finished crying. She took off her silver necklace. "I want you to have this, okay?" Cindy nodded. Sandy fastened it onto her daughter's neck. She looked up at the sky and realized how late it was getting. They started walking home.

When they got to the house, Sandy saw that her husband had been waiting for them.

"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?" He yelled. Sandy flinched.

"Don't scream at her like that!" Cindy said angrily. She was very protective of her mother. Her father stepped forward and hit Cindy so hard she fell to the floor.

"Don't touch her!" Sandy hissed. He grabbed the back of his wife's head and held her close to him.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" He screamed. "I'm sick of your fucking shit!" he pushed her to the ground, picked her up by the hair, then pushed her towards the door. He grabbed her by the hair and pushed her outside. "Go!" he hissed. Sandy stared at him with wide eyes. He was letting her leave? Then she saw Cindy, who was crying.

"No! Mommy don't! Don't…" she was sobbing really hard.

"Don't call me that," Sandy whispered. She backed up slowly, then ran away like the coward she was.


	2. Prologue ll

**Prologue ll**

_Blake and Holly Karison_

Six year-old Blake sat in the front yard with his five year-old sister, Holly, playing in the dirt.

"Please don't!" came a cry from inside their house. Holly scooted closer to Blake and hugged his arm.

"He's hurting mommy again," she whispered.

"Stop! Please…" their mother started crying. There was a loud bang, and then when she spoke again her voice was muffled. Holly started to cry. She knew what her father was doing and she didn't like it. Blake didn't like it either.

"That's it!" he said, shakily getting to his feet. "Let's go call the police."

"No!" Holly argued, clutching his arm. "Daddy said if anyone called the police then he would kill us!" Blake sat down again, defeated.

"I know," he muttered. They sat in silence. The only sound was the muffled screams and cries of their mother.

"We could run away," Holly said quietly. Blake shook his head.

"Daddy has all the money. And where would we go anyway?" Holly's lower lip trembled.

"I don't like this place, Blake! I don't want to stay here!"

"Me either," he said. "But how could we leave?"

"We'll do it when Daddy goes to work," she explained. "When he's gone we'll tell mommy about our plan."

"She's not gonna like it," Blake warned.

"Well we have to try!"

* * *

"Blake, Holly," their mother called weakly. "I made you some soup." When Blake walked into the kitchen, he saw bruises on his mother's face and red hand marks on her neck and chest. His hands clenched into fists. Holly stared at her mother and started crying.

"Did he go to work yet?" Blake asked quietly.

"Yes," his mother replied, walking toward Holly and picking her up.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"I-Is daddy gonna do that to me when I'm older?" she sniffled. Her mother's face hardened.

"I won't let him," she said stiffly.

"Mommy," Blake started. "Me and Holly had an idea yesterday… I think we should run away." His mother's eyes widened.

"Don't say stuff like that," she said, bewildered. "Especially not around your father."

"But - - we could do it! Right now, while he's at work!"

"Sweetie," she said gently. "We don't even have a car or any money - -"

"That's okay!" he exclaimed. "Any where is better than here!"

"I know," she sighed. "But your father might catch us or the police will find us or… It's just not that simple."

* * *

At night Holly and Blake huddled together in their bed, their hands pressed against their ears to block out the piercing screams of their mother.

"Don't cry Holly," Blake whispered. "He might hear you and get mad." After what seemed like forever, the screaming stopped and their father left to work the night shift. After they heard him slam the door shut and the fading of the car engine, they ran to their mother's room.

"Mommy!" Holly cried, jumping onto her bed and hugging her. Blake flinched at the sight of her broken body. She had a black eye, her neck and chest were red again, and she was naked except for the thin blanket covering her. As Blake walked toward her she sat up and cried with her head in her hands.

"I c-can't take this anymore!" she sobbed. Blake got on the bed with his mother and hugged her and Holly. Before they knew it, the two siblings had fallen asleep. But not the mother. Despite being naked, she got out of bed and went to the kitchen where the knives were.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed quietly, thinking of Holly and Blake. With two shaking hands, she grabbed the sharpest knife she could find and plunged it into her chest.


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_**Blossomfall: Bloom**_

_**Honeyfern: Hannah**_

_**Icecloud: Irene**_

_**Breezepelt: Brendon**_

When the bell rang, signaling it was lunchtime, Cindy walked out of her English class and stood in the hall for a minute, surveying all the students. She snickered when she spotted some new ninth graders getting picked on. _I'm so glad I'm in tenth grade now. Ninth grade was hell._ But her smirk soon disappeared when she realized her friend Holly was one of them.

"Hey, layoff," Cindy snarled at the bullies.

"Ooh feisty," Brendon said, grinning at Cindy. Cindy just rolled her eyes.

"Just do us all a favor and fuck off already," she snapped.

"Thanks, Cindy," Holly had said when he left.

"No problem," Cindy replied. "I'll always have your back."

"Hey guys," said Blake, appearing behind them.

"Hey," Cindy replied. "How was math?"

Blake frowned. "Confusing," he said.

"Move it, freaks," said a voice pushing past them. It was the 'popular' girls, Irene, Hannah, and their leader Bloom.

"That was really uncalled for," Cindy said coldly, narrowing her eyes. Bloom just laughed.

"It's true," she said. "You guys are _freaks_."

"You know what? Just get the fuck away from us already!" Cindy yelled, pushing Bloom into her friends. Bloom just stared at her, surprised. The she narrowed her eyes.

"Let's go," she hissed to her friends. "Theses _freaks _are a waste of time anyways," she snickered.

"So," Blake said when they left. "Shall we proceed to the lunchroom?" he asked, holding out his arms. Cindy laughed and linked her arm through his.

"You always do the weirdest things," she giggled.

* * *

Cindy stared at her history teacher tiredly. She was bored out of her mind. _I sit at the back of the room._ She thought. _I think I can go to sleep without anyone noticing. _Just as she was about to lay her head on the desk, she felt her phone vibrate. She slowly took it out of her pocket and read the text.

**Blake**_**-**__ English sucks_

Cindy smiled slightly and texted back a reply.

**Cindy- **_History sucks_

**Cindy- **_After this is over wanna ditch?_

**Blake- **_?Why?_

**Blake-**_All we have is art next and then school is over_

**Cindy- **_Yeah, but in case you've forgotten, stupid Bloom is in that class_

**Blake-**_ I know, but if our dads found out…_

**Cindy- **_Oops. Right. It was stupid to even suggest it_

**Blake- **_ Do you ever think…_

_Do I ever think what? _Cindy wondered. Ten minutes passed, and he still didn't text anything.

**Cindy- **_Do I ever think…?_

**Blake- **_Never mind. I'll talk to you during art_

**Cindy- **_Okay. Fine. I'm gonna go to sleep. Zzz…_

**Blake- **_Haha maybe I'll try that during math tomorrow _

* * *

Cindy took a peek inside the art classroom. _No sign of Blake. _She decided to wait outside the door. Getting impatient, she took out her phone and started to text him when a voice spoke in her ear.

"Boo." She jumped, but when she turned around she saw it was just Blake.

"You idiot," she laughed. When they walked into art she pulled him closer to her.

"What did you mean when you sent me that text?" She asked in a low voice so no one would hear. They sat down at a table. Blake looked down at his hands nervously.

"I was just thinking aloud," he said quietly. "Do you ever… think about your mom?" he asked. Cindy thought about it, subconsciously pulling on her silver necklace.

"Sometimes," she admitted. "I try not to, but I keep having dreams about…"

"The day she left," Blake finished. He said it as though he knew that was exactly what she was going to say. Which was true. He _did_ know she was going to say that.

Blake, Holly, and Cindy were very close. They've known each other since middle school. Blake knew everything there was to know about Cindy and vice versa. He even knew that the silver necklace she sometimes tugged on had belonged to her mother, Sandy.

"Do _you _ever think about your mom?" Cindy asked him.

"Always."


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Be right back. I'm gonna go get Holly," Blake told Cindy when they got out of art.

"Okay," Cindy replied. "I'll be outside."

* * *

"Hey," Blake said when he found his sister.

"Hi," Holly replied, not meeting his eyes. He frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look at him.

"Nothing," she mumbled. "It's just... I don't want to go home, Blake," she admitted, looking at him with pleading eyes. He hesitated.

"Well, I mean... Dad doesn't get home until five..."

* * *

"Hi," Cindy said when they got outside.

"Hello," Holly said in her usual shy voice. "Me and Blake aren't going home right now," she continued. Holly suddenly noticed all the scary teenagers around them and hugged her brother's arm tightly, feeling defenseless. "Do you wanna come with us?" she asked Cindy sheepishly. Cindy shrugged.

"Sure. What do you guys have in mind?"

* * *

Holly, Blake, and Cindy walked around the local mall. Of course, they didn't have enough money to buy anything, but it was nice to have a change of scenery.

Holly was clinging to her brother's arm. She always wore baggy sweatpants and hoodies so she could hide her face. Her pretty black hair was scraped into a ponytail and her green eyes were always crowded with memories and fear.

Cindy was a different story. She was very independent, walking around with her head held high and pale blue eyes that were like stones, portraying no emotion. Her blond hair fell into waves around her shoulders. She usually wore dark pants, dark hoodies or jackets, and ratty old sneakers. The one possession she had on at all times was the silver necklace from her mother.

Blake's amber eyes were always blank. He was very depressed, trapped in a past he can't seem to get rid of. In class if a student or teacher called his name, he didn't appear to hear them, being lost in his own head. But when he was around Cindy, all that seemed to change.

He dressed very much like his sister Holly, with the baggy hoodies except instead of sweatpants he wore jeans.

As the group was walking, they came across a few stores.

"Let's go in there," Cindy said, motioning to a video game store.

"I'm going to go in the bookstore," Holly said unexpectedly. She didn't speak much. Blake's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Are you sure?" he asked his sister gently. He knew that a lot of the time she got very scared when she was by herself.

"Yes."

* * *

Holly browsed through books in her own quiet little way. Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could help me find..." Suddenly the boy's voice faltered.

"You have green eyes," he said stupidly. Holly started to get very nervous. Rarely did anyone ever talk to her besides Cindy and Blake.

"It's not a bad thing," he said hurriedly, turning red. "Um, anyway, I was wondering if you could help me find my friend. He has blond hair and was just in this section. Did you see where he went?" Holly shook her head quickly.

"Oh, well, um..." he stammered. "Thanks anyways," he said, standing there for a while. He let out a nervous laugh.

"You don't say much, do you?" he asked. For some unknown reason, Holly felt a smile tug at her lips. She felt a warm feeling inside of her.

"How old are you, anyway?" he asked casually.

"Fourteen," she said quietly.

"So she has a voice!" he exclaimed playfully. Holly was starting to like him. He didn't seem very scary anymore. She didn't want him to leave.

"You look older. And I'm fifteen by the way," he said. "The name's Mark in case you were wondering." Mark held out his hand.

"I-I'm Holly," she mumbled, hesitantly shaking his hand. She never touched anyone except for Blake and sometimes Cindy.

"I'll see you around," he said with a breathtaking smile, then left. _I'll see you around?_ Holly got sad and scared very easily. _I thought he wanted to be my friend._ She started to cry.

* * *

"Can you call Holly? She's not answering me," Blake said worriedly.

"Sure," Cindy said, dialing her friend's number.

"She didn't answer," Cindy said finally.

"Let's go to the bookstore," Blake said. "That's where she said she was going."

They soon found Holly sitting outside the bookstore, sobbing.

"Are you okay?" Cindy asked. Blake picked her up off the ground and hugged her tightly. He was very careful with his sister. He knew that she was fragile and didn't mind her crying all the time.

"It's okay," he whispered, rubbing her back. "It's okay."

Cindy looked on with a tinge of jealousy stirring inside her. She didn't mean to feel jealous, of course, but she was. Cindy had always wanted a brother or sister to talk to. She hated being alone in her evil house and wished for some form of comfort. The necklace her mom had given her only made Cindy think bitter thoughts, though not once did she take the necklace off since she was six. When she was younger, Cindy used to cry when she thought about her mother. When she was eight, she swore to herself she would never cry again, or at least never let anyone see her cry. Now and then sometimes her bottled emotions spilled out and she allowed herself a few tears in private. But never, not even in front of Blake or Holly, did she cry.

She wouldn't allow anyone to see her cry.

She wouldn't allow anyone to comfort her.

She wouldn't allow anyone to love her.


End file.
